


The King and The Tiger

by OfficialStarsandGutters



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 10:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7799104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficialStarsandGutters/pseuds/OfficialStarsandGutters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once there was a fierce and powerful king.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The King and The Tiger

**Author's Note:**

> An old piece I found on my hard drive. Just a cutesy fairy tale. I think I wrote it to cheer someone up originally.

Once there was a fierce and powerful king, who ruled his land with cruel and firm discipline. He had little empathy for his people and cared only for his own happiness. Except that the king wasn't happy at all. The only stirrings of joy he ever felt were during punishments or executions. You see, loathe as he was to admit it, the king was lonely. While he had all the power he could wish for, he was equal parts feared and hated. No one had any real desire to be in his presence, even his closest men.

So the king took often took refuge in the forest. Many of the people took advantage of this isolation to carry out their attempts at assassination, hoping to once and all free their land from the wicked king. However, despite his small frame, the king was skilled with weaponry and easily defeated anyone who dared cross his path. The one thing he never had trouble with was the animals.

The wildlife of the forest seemed to appreciate his power. Some dared gravitate towards him, but they never snapped or clawed or caused him harm in anyway. So the king would travel into the dark depths of the forest when he was particularly lonely and sit with the animals for a while. The birds in particular were fond of him, and the magpies would flock down to sit upon his shoulders.

It was during one of these such days that the tiger first approached him. He was a large beast, noble and proud, with rustic coloured fur and sharp fangs. The king was not scared, even as the animal prowled closer. He had no fear for nature's beasts. Little did he know that the tiger was actually a villager. He had been a hunter, caught poaching on a warlock's land. As punishment the warlock had trapped him in the body of a natural hunter. A tiger.

Now, the king was particularly strict about magic, as he didn't like anyone having more power than him. As such, he had had most of the magical beings in the land killed. Witches, sages, warlocks and so on. The warlock that had bewitched the tiger had been one in hiding for many years, awaiting the fall of the king so that he himself could rise to power. He told the hunter that the only way to regain his true form would be to kill the king.

But the villager was rare in that he respected the king and his ways of ruling. So when he came across him in the dark depths of the forest, he did not pounce and rip his throat out like instructed, but rather nudged and tugged at him until the king was curious enough to follow him. The tiger led the way through the forest to the plains. Tired, the king tried to head back, but the tiger would not let him, and instead directed with a toss of his head that the king ride on his back.

No longer having to go slow for the king to keep up, the tiger travelled swiftly across the plains and into the mountains. He found a little circle of rocks near the cave where the warlock was hiding and, crouching behind them, nodded towards the cave. The king peeked over the rocks to find the warlock stirring up a potion on a fire at the mouth of the cave. He understood immediately what the tiger was showing him and promptly shot the warlock through the throat with an arrow.

Once the warlock's body hit the ground, the tiger was transformed into his true form. He told the full story to the king who, impressed by his loyalty, had the hunter immediately employed as his second in command. With his tiger by his side, the king was never again lonely.

 


End file.
